1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to online marketing, advertising, and web functionality. The invention relates more specifically to conversion marketing, website testing, and web analytics.
2. Background
Website operators are challenged to maximize conversion rates—the number of visitors who make a purchase, register for a new account, sign up for a newsletter, submit a sales lead, adopt a website feature, etc. A website's conversion rate is a measure of how successfully a website persuades visitors to act on what is offered.
The conversion process is normally comprised of numerous pages and links. The content on each page (including the text headings of each link) must compel the visitor forward through the site. While a few visitors quickly move forward through a site, the majority of visitors never click to a second page. Of the few that do click to a second page, only a small percent follow through with any conversion action.
To optimize web conversions, the website operator must determine how best to speak to the site's visitors, in a way that visitors understand, telling visitors what they need to know at each point in the conversion process. Specifically, the website operator needs to test variations of website content (including, but not limited to, product descriptions, headlines, calls to action, assurance messages, images, and words that aid site navigation and usability) and determine which are most persuasive to visitors.
Conversion marketing is the science of measuring, testing, and improving the rate at which website visitors respond to website content with a predefined action or actions, including, but not limited to, clicking a link, filling out a web page form, putting an item in a shopping basket, subscribing to a newsletter, spending time consuming specific content, or purchasing a product. More background on conversion marketing and website content testing is found in applicant's US Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0271671, filed Nov. 30, 2006, titled “System And Method For Optimizing Website Visitor Actions,” which is herein incorporated by reference.
Web analytics relates to measuring and analyzing the actions and behavior of visitors to a website. Web analytics primarily focuses on business aspects of a visitor's actions such as clicking on advertising links, making purchases, consuming content, and requesting information. Web analytics platforms are software programs or web services for managing, tracking, and reporting data associated with visitor actions. There are many different actions and data that web analytics platforms can track and report. Such data or actions may include: requests for page views, requests for files on a web server a series of requests from a single visitor, whether visitors are new or repeat visitors, advertisement impressions, and bounce rates,